Five Friends Begin Life-Long Tradition Of Taking The Same Photo Every Five Years And It’s Heartwarming
In 1982, five friends who just graduated from high school took a photo. It was a silly, spontaneous, and fun memory. At the time, they didn’t know that they would recreate the same photo for over thirty-five years.
The quintet’s picture series has inspired thousands of people around the world and caused quite a few teary eyes. But most viewers had questions. How did they do it? What on earth is in that random jar that Belves is holding? There’s only one way to find out…
Let’s take a look at this heartwarming story.
Their First Picture (1982)
On Independence Day of 1982, five friends — John Dickson, John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer-Cleary, John Molony, and Dallas Burney — snapped a photo near the Oregon-California border. They were at a lakeside cabin when they decided to snap a photo in front of the mountains.
In the picture, all friends have brooding expressions. The three Johns are shirtless, and one holds a mysterious jar. And yes, these details became critical several years down the line.
Their Story Began Long Before With Tragedy
The friendship between these five boys from Santa Barbara High School began long before their first photo. In 1977, John Wardlaw (Wedge) and some friends went to see Star Wars downtown. Unknown to them, a kite in the foothills got tangled in the power lines, resulting in the Sycamore Fire. The blaze destroyed 250 houses, including Wedge’s.
“We rented a house right next to the Dickson family,” Wedge told CNN. That’s when Wedge and John Dickson (JD) became friends.
How They Bonded Over Super 8 Movies
Wedge and JD shared a mutual interest: creating Super 8 movies. Their short films featured all manner of testosterone, including ninja fights, war stories, and a bit of science fiction thrown in. “We had a mutual interest,” recalled JD. “All five of us friends have been in them at some point.”
Through their love of movies, JD and Wedge befriended John Molony (Belves), Mark Rumer-Cleary (Kram), and Dallas Burney (Sallad). Sallad said that those movies “kept us out of teenage trouble.”
There Was A Cabin They’d Return To Every Five Years
The Five Friend Photos didn’t just rely on poses; they were shot at a particular place. During their first picture in 1982, the friends were on their way to Copco Lake, California. Wedge’s grandfather had built a Lindal Cedar Home cabin there in 1970, which the friends dubbed “the cabin.”
With three bedrooms, a basement, and a loft, the cabin made the perfect summer hangout spot for the friends. They would often visit the cabin to film more movies there.
How One Summer Trip Became A Lifetime Tradition
For the Fourth of July in 1982, the friends went up to the cabin. JD recommended that they snap a photo in front of the mountain view. He pulled out his 35 mm camera and they struck a forlorn pose on a deck railing with the mountains and lake behind them. That became their baseline photo for years to come.
Although JD first pitched the photo opportunity, Wedge ultimately decided to recreate the photo five years later. From then on, Wedge would bring the camera every time so they could copy the shot.
Their Second Picture (1987)
In 1987, the gang drove up to Copco Lake again and decided to recreate their original photo. They sat in the same order from left to right: Wedge, Kram, Sallad, Belves, and JD. However, they made one technical mistake. In the 1987 photo, Wedge’s shoulder was not behind Kram’s like in the original. They would later rectify this error in photoshop.
Otherwise, their picture looked perfect. Same shirtless men, same mysterious jar. Speaking of which, you’re probably wondering about the mysterious jar.
Yeah, What’s With The Jar?
During the gang’s first journey in 1982, they found a cockroach and made it their mascot. They placed their mascot in a jar with some butterscotch candy. “For some reason, we thought he might be lonely,” the friends wrote on their website. “So we cut out a photo of actor Robert Young…from a coffee advertisement and placed him in a jar.”
As a result, the Five Friends Photo featured Belves holding up his cockroach-Robert-Young jar. It’s a signature move that the group would have to imitate in photos to come.
Nobody Planned Their Third Photo
In 1992, the five friends returned to Copco Lake with some unfamiliar faces. They traveled to the cabin during a different time of year to continue their Super 8 movie series. The group was working on a feature-length called You Only Die Once. It was a James Bond spoof, complete with a character called Lames Blond Double O Zero.
On this trip, the friends decided to snap their third picture. Today, their project You Only Die Once is available to rent on DVD through Netflix.
Their Third Picture (1992)
In their third Five Friends picture, the group all mirrored their original photo well. Like many of their later portraits, Belves holds an empty jar. It would be too difficult to catch a new cockroach every five years, after all.
Unlike the previous photos, the three Johns wear shirts. That may have to do with the overcast weather and not the usually sunny sky. One consistency they performed here–that didn’t last–were their neutral expressions.
Why Do They Look So Stern?
Over the years, spectators have asked the five friends why they chose to look that way. Even the men in the photos didn’t know why they decided to have dark, mysterious expressions. “I’m sure we all thought we were being really cool,” Wedge joked.
It’s possible that they were trying to imitate band albums from the 1980s. Either way, the expressions added another detail that the gang had to copy. In later years, they wouldn’t all follow it.
Their Fourth Picture (1997)
As 1997 rolled around, the friends met up at their usual cabin to take their usual picture. However, they started to get lazy with the imitation. Dallas was smiling in this particular shot, and everyone wasn’t as perfectly lined up as the original.
After this, Wedge created a series of guidelines to mirror the Five Year Photo accurately. He spent a long time ensuring that every shoulder, jar, pair of sunglasses, and hat were in order, much to the impatience of his friends.
How They Remained Friends For So Long
No friendship comes without spats, and the five friends were no exception. Even so, Kram told CNN that no major fights have broken out. “Other than two guys being irritated with each other for three months a little after high school,” Kram clarified, “it was nothing lasting.”
At one point, the friends almost broke their quinquennial tradition. They considered taking the picture earlier than five years, and it almost happened if not for Kram.
Not Gonna Happen Without Everyone
When the guys all got posed to take the “early” photo, Mark simply refused. “Mark refused to be in the photograph,” JD recounted. “We were all sitting out there and he wouldn’t come out.”
Here is the resulting photo. All the guys except Kram are out there on the railing and ready to go. As you can see, there are several other elements missing from this portrait. That all-important jar, for one thing.
And The Pictures Weren’t Their Only Tradition
When Wedge’s grandfather passed away, the cabin became his family home. This transition happened before the first photo was ever snapped, and allowed the quintet to create a decades-long tradition. Along with posing for the camera, the friends would also blast Pink Floyd and Rush–just like they did in 1982.
Wedge recalled that the group never drank alcohol at the cabin, with one exception. Wedge’s grandfather kept aged bottles of whiskey there, which the group would each take a sip of occasionally.
Their Fifth Picture (2002)
As the century came and went, the five friends poured meticulous planning into their Five Year Photos. However, that didn’t prevent the friends from making some mistakes.
The most glaring issue in the fifth picture was that Sallad accidentally smiled. It was a mistake that his friends never stopped teasing him for. On top of that, Belves forgot to wear sunglasses; they were photoshopped later on. Belves’ giant jar was a deliberate joke.
Eventually, They Had To Embrace Digital Cameras
In the early 2000s, film cameras fell out of style. The group opted to use a digital camera, which came with pros and cons. “It took 30 seconds to take the original. Now it takes a half hour to take a photo because it has to be perfect,” Wedge complained.
Much later, Wedge would purchase a D800 with Video Assist to imitate the appearance of the original picture. For their sixth photo, however, the digital shot was taken with a D70 camera.
Their Sixth Picture (2007)
After kidding around with the ridiculously large jar five years earlier, the five friends resolved to imitate the original picture as accurately as possible. Belves wore sunglasses, everyone looked despondent, and they even added a caramel candy to the jar. Like the previous photo, everyone wore shirts.
Years later, fans on their website would accuse them of swapping photos, since they looked younger in their 2007 shot. The real reason for the different appearance was that several of the guys had lost weight. And one of them dyed his hair, according to Wedge.
Here’s When People Start Paying Attention
Around this time, the Five Year Photos began making their rounds across the internet. No one had expected the friends’ tradition to take off.
Their long-lasting friendship and playfulness seemed to have struck a chord with everyone. “We got a lot of emails from people who wrote they couldn’t believe we stayed friends that long,” JD reported.
But As Time Passed, It Became Harder To Meet Up
As the five friends pursued their careers, only one remained in Santa Barbara. This was JD, who ran the city’s tourism site. Sallad relocated to Antioch, California, to teach the third grade. Kram and Wedge both live in Oregon for engineering and photography, respectively. Belves moved all the way to New Orleans to work as a photographer.
Despite living in different states and working separate jobs across the country, the five friends still made the effort to meet up in Copco Lake.
Their Seventh Picture (2012)
No matter how far the friends had to drive, they all made it for their 2012 photo. At least Kram didn’t have to drive all night to get there as he had in 2007.
By daytime, they were all in position with a caramel candy and a photo of Robert Young in their jar. When they snapped the picture, though, the friends never expected it to take off like it did.
As If Overnight, They Became An International Sensation
“I couldn’t believe the amount of reactions (in 2012) to our picture,” Belves later reported. As if overnight, the group’s story appeared in magazines and webpages across the world. “I had a friend in Sweden let me know we were on the front page of his newspaper,” JD said.
Their photos even became an art exhibit in the Museum fur Kommunikation in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2018. All eight of their pictures were lined up in chronological order for guests to peruse.
The Friends’ Fame Landed Them With Big Stars
During the height of the “Five Year Photo” craze, NBC called up the group to appear on The Today Show. The friends flew to New York to talk to Matt Lauer. They were also featured on KGW Portland and Sunrise on 7 Australia in 2012, and in 2017 were on an Inside Edition segment.
Later on, Wedge later revealed that they had to turn down interviews with CBS, Fox, and ABC, among others.
Meeting The Fierce Five
On their New York City trip for The Today Show, the group met up with another iconic quintet: the Fierce Five. The artistic gymnastics team won the second team gold medal for the United States during the Summer Olympics in London in 2012.
The Fierce Five team members were Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, and McKayla Maroney. The five friends are shown here meeting the celebrated Olympics team.
Their Eighth Picture (2017)
Several interviews later, the friends met up for their 2017 traditional photo. This picture marked their 35th anniversary. In honor of their Today Show appearance, they stuffed a photo of Matt Lauer in the jar.
For the first time since 1987, all three Johns were shirtless. Of all the shots, this photo imitates the original picture most accurately: hat, sunglasses, jar, and candy are all in their respectful positions.
However, Not Everyone Found Their Pictures Endearing
Belves told CNN that since 2012, internet users have responded with varying levels of respect. “About 75% of the responses were glowing and loving,” he explained, “but some of it was visceral hate.”
Commenters also threw out difficult questions, such as what they’ll do when one of them dies. The friends always reply with grace. “We thought an Urn might be funny,” the friends said on their website, “since we have a sense of humor about it.”
As Life Goes On, They Form Families Of Their Own…
Just as the friends carved their own lives and careers, they also created their own families. In 2012, two of the five were married. By their 2017 picture, all of them were. Despite this, the spouses rarely appear at the shoots — these photos are all about the original group of friends.
At age 51, JD and his wife, Sharon, had a child. So far, he’s the only friend who has had kids. “It’s been great,” he told CNN. “I wanted to become a father for a long time.”
Today, Their Adventure Continues…
By 2019, the friends had captured eight photos. The pictures capture their lives and friendship throughout the years.
“I look at the photos and think of the relationships I went through,” JD said. “Wedding rings come and go if you look closely.”
A New Photo In 2022
In 2022, the friends again posed for the photo, marking 40 years since starting the tradition. This photo was even more special following Dallas Burney’s cancer scare in 2019. Thankfully, he recovered and reunited with his pals at the California lake.
JD plans on passing on their Copco tradition to his two-year-old son, Jimmy. For more information and updates, check out their website: fiveyearphotos.com.
